Power Efficiency of Outer Hair Cell Somatic Electromotility

• Published in: PLoS computational biology Vol. 5; no. 7; p. e1000444
• Main Authors: Rabbitt, Richard D., Clifford, Sarah, Breneman, Kathryn D., Farrell, Brenda, Brownell, William E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.07.2009; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Animals; Cell Membrane - physiology; Cell research; Cells; Cochlea; Computational Biology; Ears & hearing; Efficiency; Electric Capacitance; Electric Impedance; Electrophysiological Phenomena; Guinea Pigs; Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer - physiology; Hearing; Mathematical models; Mechanotransduction, Cellular; Models, Biological; Motility; Motion; Neuroscience/Sensory Systems; Nonlinear Dynamics; Patch-Clamp Techniques; Phosphorylation; Physiology/Sensory Systems; Sound; Systems Biology - methods; Thermodynamics; United States; Cell Membrane; Motion; Guinea Pigs; Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer; Electric Impedance; Systems Biology; Mechanotransduction, Cellular; Thermodynamics; Patch-Clamp Techniques; Animals; Models, Biological; Electric Capacitance; Electrophysiological Phenomena; Nonlinear Dynamics

Cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) are fast biological motors that serve to enhance the vibration of the organ of Corti and increase the sensitivity of the inner ear to sound. Exactly how OHCs produce useful mechanical power at auditory frequencies, given their intrinsic biophysical properties, has be...